Jun 17th, 2026
MCBC at 90! Better Together 6 - “Engaging God’s World…First Nations Bible”
I grew up in South Dakota. A state named after the Dakota Sioux tribes. I was born and raised in a small town on the Missouri River named Yankton, also named after a tribe. The Yankton Sioux, historically known as the Iháŋktoŋwaŋ (meaning "Dwellers at the End"), make up the fifth council fire of the original Oceti Šakowiŋ (the Seven Council Fires), which is the traditional name for the Sioux. I had First Nations/Native American classmates and church family. The university I went to for my undergrad (after a 1.5-year stint in Music and Urban Studies at a Bible College), had and has degrees in Native American Studies and Lakota Language. I had courses taught by Sioux in my degree. In the US, South Dakota has the second largest land mass that is set as Reserve Lands (AZ is first). Nine Reserves (in the US "Reservations") with Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Sioux Tribal governments. South Dakota, a troubled state in its First Nations history and still home to one of the poorest counties in the US, also has from time to time worked at conciliation. Even changing the Columbus Day holiday to Native American Day way back in 1989, during a year of reconciliation, the first state to do so.
